The B2B Weekly Roundup: July 30

7/30/2013

This week we’re talkin’ mobile. Dan Pacifico reveals one of the truths about Google’s push for Enhanced Campaigns and the ability to evaluate campaigns/ad groups on a device level: the folks at the Googleplex want us to see the impact mobile, and mobile advertising, can have on our B2B marketing goals. Leanne Terpak, meanwhile, finds a great source on the key similarities and differences between web and mobile analytics and why it’s important we understand them. Andy DeBrunner brings us up to date on the growth of Facebook during the second quarter including a jump in mobile monthly active users from 751 to 819 million (that’s plus 68 million in three months). Jenn Vitello reminds us of the importance of personas – the established UX technique – in also creating engaging B2B content. (Jenn doesn’t mention this, but our B2B customers will be among those who, by the end of 2013, will be downloading an estimated 2 billion apps each week; a factor in building those personas). To stretch the mobile theme further, Andy Hunt looks past the immediate gleam of Google’s Chromecast web TV device to the promise of its software developer’s kit that will allow apps to be optimized for the living-room sized screen, too; he thinks there are possibilities for B2B marketing and sales, how about you?

If you haven’t been into Google AdWords lately you may not have realized that all of your campaigns have converted over to Enhanced Campaigns. What does this mean for you? Well, for one it allows you to control keyword bidding for device on the Ad Group level, making it easier to keep track of separate campaigns for mobile and desktop devices. Since the roll out, Google has added improved monitoring and reporting in Analytics so that you can easily measure the success of your campaigns/ad groups on a device level. This move supports the idea that Google wants you to see that mobile can be a big contributor to your overall site goals and you shouldn’t forget about mobile advertising.

Often our B2B clients ask if they could track their mobile apps. My response is, “Absolutely!” But there are many differences between web and mobile app analytics. In this blog by Brent Dykes, he covers some of these key differences.

A few things he points out: apps don’t have pages like websites do – they have screens, and users can interact with these screens in a variety of ways, and understanding this usage is important. Also for mobile apps, general usage is shorter due to a perceived shorter attention span.

Because of these differences, analytics vendors have created software development kits (SDKs) specifically for app tracking.

This week, I just want to draw attention to some recently updated user statistics from Facebook because a lot of B2B companies focus their social media efforts there and it’s important to keep an eye on the changing demographics. This quarter, Facebook grew from 665 million daily active users to 669 million daily active users and 819 million mobile monthly active users from 751 million. This is generally good news for companies developing their Facebook presence, but perhaps most interesting for the global B2B market is the fact that Facebook is seeing its highest growth numbers in Asia, growing 8.38% compared to 2.15% in North America. Of course, it’s important to remember that due to China’s ban on Facebook, “Asia” does not include any users from China. So if you have a strong presence in China, but not much outside of it, you should probably stick with the China-approved networks. Markets outside of North America, Asia and Europe (known as “the rest of the world”) are growing at a rate similar to Asia, 8.33%.

Creating valuable and interesting B2B content for your customers and prospects is extremely important. But first, you have to know who exactly you’re trying to reach, what they care about and where they spend their time online. Personas do more than identify and define your audience—they help focus your content on the customer. Internally, they help serve as a planning tool and create alignment among your content creation team. Don’t limit yourself to just one persona—create a mix that speaks to your varying audiences and needs. Then get to work creating killer content that engages them with your company.

Last week, Google unveiled their latest piece of hardware, Chromecast. According to Google, Chromecast is “the easiest way to enjoy online video and music on your TV.” While this point is certainly disputable, it does warrant further consideration. Can a tiny, inexpensive device that brings a truly simple web experience to the TV (via HDMI input) change the way we watch TV? That’s a question that can only be answered in time and we’ll leave that to the guys at Nielsen. The really interesting point with Chromecast for B2B is the release of their Software Development Kit (SDK) for third-party apps. This opens up a whole new world of options to anyone with a mobile app budget and some creativity. No longer are apps constrained to the tiny, portable screens we’ve all come to know and love. With Chromecast features, you could take your app and optimize it for a TV screen. And with a price point of $35, it could be feasible to outfit your entire sales force with them. Keep on the lookout in the next few months for some very creative implementations of Chromecast apps and think of how you might be able to apply them yourself.